Barend Graat (1628-1709) Diana The Huntress And Her Dogs Naked Hunting

Barend GRAAT
(Amsterdam 1628 – Amsterdam 1709)
Diana the Huntress
Oil on wood
H. 33.5 cm; L. 44 cm
Signed lower right on the stone

A discreet painter with respect to history, Barend Graat was a pupil of his uncle Hans Both. He lives and works in Amsterdam as a decorative painter for many prominent families, and specializes in genre scenes, Italianate landscapes, and the depiction of animals. Our reclining Diana is a magnificent composition that can be dated to the 1670s. This graceful woman has all the attributes of a huntress, and the company of her dogs, which a valet takes care of in the background. The finesse of the treatment of these animals is simply wonderful, like the flesh of women. The rosy atmosphere of the composition perfectly establishes the painting in its period, in Holland in the 1670s/80s.